Concrete Inside Vinyl Fence Post?

pjwinstalls

I have installed plenty of wood fence posts, cement around them with some gravel on the bottom and they are solid. I had a vinyl fence installed the other day for myself since I have never dealt with vinyl before. It is 75ft long. The posts have a lot of movement to them which in turn moves the fence. I dug around the posts and there is cement there about 2.5" below the surface but when i put a pipe inside the post, there is no cement and just dirt at the bottom.

Is this movement probably due to the fact there is no cement in the post at all? Can this be fixed by just pouring concrete into the post now or does each post need to be removed and re-cemented around and inside the post? Your thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks

Philip

DecksEtc

Ask the contractor that installed them for you.

This isn't the place for advice for homeowners...

curapa

It moves probably because its PVC and not structural.

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TLK401

When installing vinyl fence generally a bed of 3-6 inches of gravel is placed in the hole and the post concreted in at the proper depth for the frost line. Typically 1/4 to 1/3 of the post should be underground. The corner, end and gate posts should be filled with concrete inside the post. Typically you use 1/2" rebar placed in the opposite corners of the post from the bottom to 1/2 way up the post for corner and end posts and extending to within 10-12" on the gate posts. Needless to say its best to install the gates first to help hold the hardware and if you have open end horizontal railings in your post tape them off with duct tape to prevent concrete from flowing into your rails or it will cause them to sag. For line posts this is generally sufficent for fences five feet or less in height. For fences over five feet and for solid fences such as privacy fences that buffer a lot of wind you should rebar and fill each line post with concrete as well.

If you check hopefully your corner and end posts are filled with concrete but generally line posts are not. A fix would be to place 1/2" rebar in the posts (driving the rebar into the ground to keep it in place inside the post), taping off the rail ends and fill the post with concrete.